Chapter 4: The Bandit Hideout
"The bandits have captured my brother and told me they will kill him if I don't bring them money every week. They are scum of the earth" Fiora replied with hate evident in her eyes.
'If I can just trick this old man into helping me rescue Zane, we can finally live our lives in peace' Fiora thought to herself hoping that this was her chance to finally get out of this hell hole that she was in.
Due to Zane being threatened Fiora had no choice but to work daily for the bandits and bring them all sorts of treasures and money to not kill Zane. This was because if she ever asked for help from a stranger and they couldn't defeat the bandit leader she would inevitably lose her brother.
The bandit leader was known infamously by the inhabitants of Crane Village. He had the strength of 1st tier martial warrior which was considered top tier by any standard in all of Sichuan. If this old fogey in front of her was truly a peak martial warrior he would have no difficulty destroying the bandits.
"And what do I get in return for helping you and your brother?" Fiora who thought she could rope the old fogey in front of her to help her for money realized this old man was not as nice as he appeared to her.
"I-I will give you money" Karn knew he had to help them but his life in the military taught him how to not get taken advantage of. No matter what his real strength was what mattered most was how his outward strength appeared to others.
Karn knew that Fiora thought that he was a expert in martial arts and if he sold himself short his image that he built up already would look like a joke.
"Even somebody like you should know that I have no interest in that." Karn replied
"I-I will give you this!" Fiora took out a book with hesitation that she hid on her back. The book had a big label that wrote 'Heavenly Thief Technique'.
Karn eyed the book and a blue window appeared.
*Heavenly Thief Technique*
Rank: Peak Martial Warrior
Restriction: 50 Agility, 50 intelligence
Description: Technique made by the original Heavenly thief renowned in the murim, allows the practitioner to achieve heavenly speed and illusion to fight, steal and run.
This was the first time Karn had seen any restrictions on something. He remembered he had gotten 100 ability points before and as soon as he looked into the system a little further he found it.
*Ability Chart*
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Charm: 10
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 10
Qi: 50
Unspent Points: 100
'I see, so this is a 3rd tier martial warrior's abilities' Karn understood why the restrictions were a thing now. Without a basic foundation, learning a technique would be difficult if not impossible.
"Fine, I agree" Karn replied as he grabbed the book from Fiora. Fiora on the other hand was shocked how easily Karn had agreed after seeing the book.
'Is this book really that important?' Fiora thought but immediately gave up on the thought. What was done was done. The two immediately left for the hideout.
Karn received a message again.
*Abilities not sufficient to learn new technique*
Karn immediately put 40 into both agility and intelligence and the 20 points left into strength. Changing his ability chart dramatically.
*Ability Chart*
Strength: 30
Agility: 50
Charm: 10
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 50
Qi: 50
Unspent Points: 0
*Learning Heavenly Thief Technique*
Karn who had not only just learned the technique but also increased his stats started experiencing his body heating up again just like when he had reached 3rd tier martial warrior but instead of pain which he had braced for, a feeling of relaxation and lightness was felt in his body.
Karn could collect his thought and sort them out much faster than before additionally his body became much more compressed and strength was oozing out of his body waiting to be released on a poor soul.
The heavenly thief technique's information soon after started flooding Karn's brain, the levels of mastery over the technique and its usefulness were all understood quickly by Karn in mere moments due to the system assisting.
'This system I received is certainly very useful' Karn said to himself happy that he didn't have to read the whole thing for himself. Soon after they reached the entrance of the forest south of Crane village. Fiora's mind was overthinking and nervous. This concerned her little brother's life and was this old man even as strong as he seemed? She had no idea, she could only trust what she had seen and his demeanor.
Karn's vision was not impeded by the forest in front of him thanks to 'God's eye' he could see every intricacy of the forest with just his senses. There were two humans posted up on some trees 500 meters ahead from what he could tell.
"Stay here there are people ahead." Karn told Fiora before running as fast as he could. Fiora could barely see where the old man ran due to how fast he was. When she saw the old man's speed she felt much better about this whole thing.
Karn ran behind the two men on the trees by deftly avoiding their line of vision. Every moment of their eyes could be seen by 'God's eye'.
'Incredible ability' Karn thought before using the first level of the heavenly thief technique. His body which was quite fast got even faster almost as if an illusion was what he had left.
----
A fire burned viciously, many people had been grouped around the fire with black and white clothes. At the very center of the fire was many logs stacked on top of each other. Every person here looked sad.
Karn's grandson could be seen crying at the center of it all. He had been driving when his grandpa had died.
An old man with broad shoulders came up to Karn's grandson and comforted him "So you are Karn's grandson huh? You look just like his younger self."
The grandson looked over and questioned "Did you know my grandpa?"
"Of course I did, we went to the army together. Fought in Nam, hehe good times." Said the old man with broad shoulders with a top hat.
"How was he like?" Asked the grandson while the tears which were overflowing beforehand stopped.
"He was ruthless, you never want someone like him on the enemy lines or else consider yourself as good as dead." The old man said reminiscing clear in his thoughtless expression.
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